1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a device for delivering a cleaning composition into a desired location within the interior cavity of a reciprocating internal combustion engine. Such a device has at least one orifice located inside the engine cavity and allows for administration of the cleaning composition to a specified interior location, for example, at the point of a problematic deposit; thereby allowing for a fluid delivery point that is independent of the fuel delivery system and without constraints of solely relying upon combustion air (or other external means) as the carrier, to deliver the cleaning composition to a carbonaceous deposit requiring removal. This device is useful for removing engine deposits in a reciprocating internal combustion engine by directing a substantial portion of the cleaning composition at the point of, or in close proximity to, the deposit in the interior of the engine. More particularly, this invention relates to a device and application tool containing the same, which allows for the controlled delivery of a cleaning composition to one or more specified locations within the interior cavity of a reciprocating internal combustion engine having a least one interior surface to be cleaned.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is well known that reciprocating internal combustion engines tend to form carbonaceous deposits on the surface of engine components, such as carburetor ports, throttle bodies, fuel injectors, intake ports and intake valves, due to the oxidation and polymerization of hydrocarbon fuel, exhaust gas recirculation (EGR), positive crankcase ventilation (PCV) gases. It is believed that some of the unburnt hydrocarbons in the fuel undergoes complex cracking, polymerization and oxidation reactions, leading to reactive moieties which can interact with the fuel, recirculated gases and lubricating oils; thus forming insolubles in the combustion chamber and combustion pathways. These deposits, even when present in relatively minor amounts, often cause noticeable operational performance issues such as driveability problems including stalling and poor acceleration, loss of engine performance, increased fuel consumption and increased production of exhaust pollutants.
Fuel based detergents and other additive packages have been developed, primarily in gasoline fuels, to prevent the formation of these unwanted deposits. As a consequence, problems in fuel delivery systems, including injector deposit problems, have been significantly reduced. However, even after employing these detergent additives, injectors and other components require occasional additional cleaning to maintain optimum performance. The present additives and delivery devices are not completely successful eliminating deposits, especially for removing preexisting heavy deposits or deposits upstream of the fuel entry. Often these preexisting and upstream deposits require complete engine tear down. Attempts have been made to use higher concentrations of detergents and additives in the fuel but, since these detergents are mixed with the fuel, they are generally employed at concentrations less than 1% (primarily for compatibility with elastomers, seals, hoses and other components) in the fuel system. Moreover, for these detergent additives in the fuel to remove deposits from the various parts of an engine, they needed to come into contact with the parts that require cleaning.
Specific engine configurations have more pronounced problematic deposit areas due to the intake systems. For example, throttle body style fuel injector systems where the fuel is sprayed at the initial point of air flow into the system allows the intake to remain reasonably clean using the fuel additive, however port fuel injection spark ignition (PFI SI) engines spray the fuel directly into the air stream just before the intake valves and direct injection spark ignition (DISI) engines and many diesel engines spray the fuel directly into the combustion chamber. As a result, upstream components from the fuel entry on the intake manifold of PFI SI and DISI engines are subject to increased formation of unwanted deposits from oil, from the positive crankcase ventilation (PCV) system, and from exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) system. These upstream engine air flow components can remain with engine deposits even though a detergent is used in the fuel. Moreover, even with the use of detergents, some engine components when present, such as intake valves, fuel injector nozzles, idle air bypass valves, throttle plates, EGR valves, PCV systems, combustion chambers, oxygen sensors, etc., require additional cleaning.
Several generic approaches were developed to clean these problematic areas often focusing on the fuel systems. One common procedure is applying a cleaning solution directly to the carburetor into an open air throttle or the intake manifold of a fuel injection system, where the cleaner is admixed with combustion air and fuel, and the combination mixture is burned during the combustion process. These carburetor-cleaning aerosol spray cleaning products are applied from an external location into a running engine. The relatively slow delivery rate as well as the structure of the carburetor/manifold systems generally prevent the accumulation of cleaning liquid in the intake of the engine. However as is apparent for the intake manifold, the majority of the cleaner will take the path of least resistance to the closest combustion chamber of the engine often leading to poor distribution and minimal cleaning of some cylinders.
This technique has also been modified, to introduce a cleaning solution to the intake manifold through a vacuum fitting. Generally, these cleaning solutions are provided in non-aerosol form, introduced into a running engine in liquid form using engine vacuum to draw the product into the engine, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,858,942 issued Jan. 12, 1999. While these newer products may be generally more effective at cleaning the engine than the conventional aerosol cleaners, they suffer from a distribution problem in getting the cleaner to the multiple intake runners, intake ports, intake valves, combustion chambers, etc. Typically, the cleaning product was introduced into the intake manifold via a single point by disconnecting an existing vacuum line on the manifold and connecting a flex line from that vacuum point to a container containing the cleaning liquid and using engine vacuum to deliver the cleaning solution to that single port. While a metering device could be used limit the rate at which the cleaning solution was added to the intake manifold, the locations for addition of cleaning solution were fixed by the engine design of vacuum fittings on the intake manifold. Often such arrangements favored introduction of cleaning solution to some of the cylinders while others received less or none of the cleaning solution. More problematic is that some engine designs have an intake manifold floor, plenum floor or resonance chamber, which has a portion lower than the combustion chamber of the engine. This type of design will allow for a cleaning solution to pool in these areas. This aspect, as well as introducing the cleaning solution at too great a rate, can accumulate and pool the cleaning solution in the manifold even though the engine is running. Generally, the vacuum generated within the manifold is not sufficient to immediately move this pooled liquid or atomize the liquid for introduction into the combustion chamber. However, upon subsequent operation of the engine or at higher engine speed, a slug of this liquid can be introduced into the combustion chamber. If sufficient liquid is introduced into the combustion chamber, hydraulic locking and/or catastrophic engine failure can result. Hydraulic locking and engine damage can result when a piston of the running engine approaches its fully extended position towards the engine head and is blocked by essentially an incompressible liquid. Engine operation ceases and engine internal damage often results.
Accordingly, disclosed herein is an apparatus and application tool for introducing a cleaner composition into an operating reciprocating internal combustion engine, while providing discrete variable locations within the engine cavity for introduction of the cleaning solution. Such discrete locations can be within an intake vacuum system and/or independent of the engine vacuum port configuration. Thus, this device can be used to reduce or eliminate the possibility of pooling the cleaner solution into the intake manifold while allowing for improved distribution of the cleaner solution to affected areas.
Such an apparatus and application tool allows for rapid removal of engine deposits in reciprocating engines and is suitable for different engine types.
This apparatus and tool can be used in gasoline, diesel, and natural gas internal combustion engines and is especially suited for mounting inside the air intake manifold and used to deliver a cleaning composition to a discrete interior surface to be cleaned of a warmed up and operating internal combustion engine, thereby removing carbonaceous deposits.
This invention relates to a device for delivering a cleaning composition into a desired location within the interior cavity of a reciprocating internal combustion engine. The device has at least one orifice which is positionable to a specified interior location which is independent of the engine access ports.
In one embodiment, disclosed is an apparatus for administering a cleaning solution to an interior surface of a reciprocating engine system comprising an elongated conduit in fluid communication with a treatment manifold adapted for positioning into the interior of a reciprocating engine cavity through an access port, said treatment manifold having a bore therethrough and at least one maneuverable end portion having an orifice for directing fluid delivery to an interior surface of said engine requiring cleaning, wherein the treatment manifold is of sufficient length such that the orifice is positionable independently of the location of the access port, and a seal member circumscribing and in cooperation with said treatment manifold to releaseably engage with the access port of the engine.
In another aspect, the treatment manifold can have a plurality of orifices for delivering cleaning composition to discrete locations within the interior of the engine. Accordingly another embodiment is directed to an apparatus for delivering a cleaning composition to multiple independent interior surfaces of an engine system requiring cleaning comprising an elongated conduit in fluid communication with a treatment manifold adapted for insertion into the interior cavity of a reciprocating engine through an access port, said treatment manifold having a central bore in communication with a plurality of orifices disposed on said central bore and extending radially outward therefrom, said orifices positionable along the central bore to provide a plurality of discrete delivery points for substantially directing the cleaning composition to a plurality of preselected interior engine surfaces independent from the location of the access port, and a seal member circumscribing and cooperating with said treatment manifold to releaseably engage with the access port of said engine. In addition to the treatment manifold having a central bore the treatment manifold can comprise a plurality of tubes. Accordingly, another aspect comprises a treatment manifold having a plurality of independently directible tubes having a passageway therethrough and at least one orifice disposed on each tube for a discrete point of fluid delivery, said tubes having proximal and distal ends, wherein the proximal ends are in communication with a seal member, and at least one distal end of a tube positionable to a interior surface to be cleaned.
Another aspect of this invention is directed to an application tool employing the apparatus described herein above. Such an application tool is attachable to an air intake system of an internal combustion engine for administering and directing a cleaning composition to remove interior carbonaceous engine deposit comprising:
(a) a pressure resistant reservoir container having an inlet in communication with a pressure regulator and a discharge outlet, said container charged with an engine cleaning composition,
(b) an adjustable valve connected to the discharge outlet of the pressure resistant reservoir container,
(c) at least one elongated conduit having a proximal end and a distal end with a bore extending throughout, the proximal end being connectably attached to the adjustable valve for receiving engine cleaner composition discharged from the pressure resistant reservoir container upon actuation of the valve,
(d) a treatment manifold in fluid communication with the distal end portion of the at least one elongated conduit, the treatment manifold adapted for insertion into the interior cavity of the engine through an access port within said engine, said treatment manifold having at least one directable tube with an orifice for fluid delivery extending within the interior engine cavity from the access port, a guide member concentric to a portion of the directable tube for positioning said orifice in proximity to a surface to be cleaned,
(e) a seal member which is releasably engagible with the access port and cooperates with the elongated conduit and treatment manifold to allow for transport of fluid therethrough.
Among other factors, the present invention is based on the discovery that intake system deposits, particularly intake valve deposits, ridge deposits, combustion cylinder deposits, and combustion chamber deposits, can be effectively removed in reciprocating internal combustion engines by employing a cleaning composition and the unique apparatus and application tool described herein. Moreover, the apparatus of the present invention is suitable for use in removing specific interior deposits in conventional gasoline engines including conventional port fuel injection spark ignition (PFI SI) engines and in direct injection spark ignition (DISI) gasoline engines. The present apparatus is especially suitable for use in DISI gasoline engines for removing problematic intake deposits. In another aspect, diesel engines and alternative fuel engines such as natural gas engines, including CNG and LPG engines, and hydrogen fueled engines can be cleaned using the present apparatus and application tool.
Deposit removal is not limited to certain type or class of engine as this apparatus and application tool allows for positionable interior delivery of a cleaning composition in close proximity to one or more problematic deposits and effectively removes deposits form a wide variety of two stroke and four stroke internal combustion engines such as PFI, DISI, diesel, marine, and natural gas engines and their accessories such as turbochargers, rotary and reciprocating pumps and turbines.